Ed Kinane
Voices in The Wilderness
Baghdad
Oct. 13, 2003

No muezzin this morning at 4:30. Neville was set up to record that typical and remarkable chant calling the faithful to prayer. He’s begun using the muezzin’s morning call to prayer as his own.

At 4:50 a chopper hovers overhead before moving on down toward The Palestine. This is the first chopper I’ve seen with navigation lights on. With Abu Mohammed driving, we go by the Hotel Baghdad, recently bombed. Armed men on the roof, armed men strung along Al Sadoon St every few feet. The windows of shops across the boulevard blasted out.

We then go by the Palestine. The Palestine has become more fortified since I was here a couple weeks ago: more barriers to car bombers, more surrounded by armed men. Where there’s not huge cement barriers, there’s coil upon coil of razor wire. In the vicinity of the hotels, the CPA has turned riverside park, formerly one of Baghdad’s loveliest amenities, into a parking lot.

Abu Mohammed lives a couple of blocks away from our place. Cathy and Cynthia often use him as their driver, calling him on our phone that’s run off his line, and paying him by the day in dollars. Abu Mohammed, with his huge head and flashing eyes, looks so fierce; he has little English, yet is punctual, patient and kind.

Neville and I go to our favorite Internet. The computers are down. For solace we head for the fruit juice bar on the corner. Mugs of “cocktail — a juice mix with banana coins and pineapple chunks are 1500 dinars each ($.75). We sit and read the latest Baghdad Today.

Tonite Rick and Mary have been invited to dinner to brief us on what they know about housing issues in Baghdad. Mary is pekid: some kind of stomach ailment. The conversation never gets up steam. There are just too many other visitors. Juneed comes by briefly and Karima and the twins. They stay for dinner and the birthday cake Cynthia has gotten Neville for his neglected 74th birthday of a week or two ago.

“WHY SHOULD WE KEEP OUR BLOOD IN OUR BODIES?”

In the afternoon two tall men, identically dressed in black turbans and black gowns, come to our door. They look like two princes, with noble noses and neatly trimmed full beards. They are the picture of dignity and propriety. One, Sayed Adnan, is Salam Talib’s brother. The other is Sayed Fadhel. “Sayed” is a religious title. Both men are from Hillah, a Shia holy city in the South.
Fortunately Haythem comes home shortly after they arrive. Immediately, as a sign of respect and hospitality, he runs next door and brings back cans of cold Pepsi for them. With his gravitas, he makes the ideal translator in situations like this.

The two men begin by handing us a two-page printed “Call of Peace” roughly translated into English from their spiritual/political leader, Sayed Muktade Al-Sadur. It begins:

“What happened to you, the supporters and the followers of the Christ (peace be upon him). What happened to you, the followers who love peace, what happened to you?”

Because our two visitors have met other Voices folks before thru Salam, they say they feel comfortable with us and that we are the first to get their message. The men say–Salam’s brother does almost all the talking–that they haven’t found any real humanitarian organizations here. They offer to send us someone to teach us about Islam. They invite us to Al-Sadur’s press conference at 1pm tomorrow in Nejaf and to their demonstration on Friday in Hillah.

They ask if we can inform the Pope about their message. Since they can’t leave Iraq, they want the Pope to come and talk with them. Cathy asks if they would be willing to meet with the Papal Nuncio, the Pope’s representative in Iraq. They agree and Cathy, who has met the Nuncio, an Italian, says she’ll try to set up an appointment.

Muktade Al-Sadur will announce tomorrow that he has established a shadow government in opposition to the CPA, one supported by some members of the Governing Council. In the two men’s eyes both the CPA and their handpicked Governing Council are illegal. The CPA has brought only a fabricated freedom, a freedom of expression but not a freedom of action.

The CPA has distributed notices in Hillah saying that unpermitted demonstrations will be punished. Since they’ll not legitimize the CPA by seeking its permission, Friday’s demo will be unpermitted. Sayed Adnan expects the US forces to attack them on Friday.

We ask if we would have a role at Friday’s demonstration. The answer seems to be, “Yes, you’ll have a role.” We tell them Voices is dedicated to nonviolence and that we don’t work with organizations using violence. We ask about their stance on nonviolence. Not hearing an answer to the question, we re-ask it later in the conversation.

They then say they respect Jesus’ statement about turning the other cheek. They say that violence would only be used as a last resort. They ask, “Why should we keep our blood in our bodies?” After one of us says that we believe life is sacred, they say, “Not every life is sacred under all circumstances. Life is sacred if it serves humanity.”

“In the US you have groups for animal rights, but none to protest Saddam’s killings. The invasion leaves nothing for us to feel our humanity. We tried various nonviolent approaches, but it was useless.”

Sayed Adnan gets out of his seat, crosses over to Cynthia, and takes her handbag. “Now, what are you going to do?” he challenges, brandishing his cane. Cynthia says, “You may keep the bag.” Cynthia doesn’t press the point, but later in the conversation, she goes over and gently says to him, “May I have my bag?” and reaches over and takes it back.

We mention that various folks in Voices have gone to prison for our nonviolent resistance to the US government. Sayed Adnan says, “Prison for us isn’t enough. Some of us were put in acid. When I was in prison, like thousands of others, they gave me injections that sterilized me.”